Wearable technology is proving popular with retailers in Australia with several moving to range a combination of devices ahead of new product launches by LG and Samsung.
Last week Dick Smith started ranging several
health products at their City stores with JB Hi Fi set to follow shortly among
the new wearable technologies set to hit Australian stores are devices that can
verify your identity based on your heart rhythm to swanky handbags that can
charge a smart phone to a new generation of headphones that can measure your
pulse and heart rate.
Canadian Company Bionym, is developing a
device called the “Nymi,” that is a wristband that the company says
will measure the wearer’s unique cardiac rhythm to confirm identity, in lieu of
a password or pin number.
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Asus CEO Jonney Shih said recently that the company’s first wearable device, assumed to be a smartwatch, will complement smartphones with alternative control methods.
However, Shih admitted at a National Taiwan University job fair that “more breakthroughs are needed in these areas,” Focus Taiwan has reported.
Shih also said Asus is addressing battery concerns and hopes to get its wearable to a tenth the power consumption of smartphones.
Meanwhile Google has announced that their Android
OS that is the most popular operating system for smartphones has been made
available to power wearable devices.
Google executive Sundar Pichai said
overnight that the search the company plans to release in two weeks a software
development kit based on Android for makers of wearable devices, such as smart watches.
Google who plans to release its own
smartwatch, which will be manufactured by LG Electronics wants to help lay out
a “vision” for other developers to power their own wearable devices.
Pichai said that Google is releasing its
Android software developer kit for wearable devices well before actual devices
hit the market so that the company gets “plenty of feedback” first. Google
plans to unveil its smartwatch at a Google developer event in June.
Smart watches are among the first wearable
computing devices, but Pichai said that Google hopes its software platform will
help developers create many types of wearable devices. He threw out the possibility
that one day, Google’s software would be used in a “smart jacket” with sensors.
Pichai has also offered the first hint on
Chromecast sales, saying they are “in the millions.” The device was first
released in the United States, but Pichai said Sunday Google will soon make it
available in Australia.
